The new timetable has been most thoughtlessly drafted in which students are being forced to write back-to-back papers.
LAHORE: This is with reference to your editorial of June 7 titled “O level exam leak”. We are all aware that ‘O’ level students all over Pakistan are being asked to reappear in their Pakistan Studies and Islamiyat examinations, when they have already sat the exams in May 2013.
Surely this is no laughing matter and a severe concern for all students and their parents, which has caused much unrest. The British Council has shown a most irresponsible attitude this time around. Not only have we been informed of the new schedule on the very short notice of a mere 10 days, the Council did not think it important to deliver the news in an official press conference. And to top that off, no institution in Pakistan was informed of the decision beforehand, thus they were not able to prepare their students for this untimely decision.
The new timetable has been most thoughtlessly drafted in which students are being forced to write back-to-back papers which would mean that they will be kept in the examination hall from 8am till 1pm on June 13 and 14. Students are not permitted to take eatables along with them as per British Council policy; this can prove highly problematic for more than a few candidates.
All we know is that there has been a “breach” in the security of the examination, in which it was first claimed that Pakistan was not involved, and later changed to the Cambridge International Examinations saying that some people in Pakistan may have seen the papers beforehand. Many suspect it to be more than just a “leak” since we have received no official statement, defining the matter clearly, by the British Council till date.
The entire Pakistani ‘O’ level student population can rightfully demand that the investigation should be carried out with transparency and the results of this probe made public. The actual reason behind this re-examination, along with the culprits, should be unveiled and the results of the investigation publicly announced to show that the British Council has correctly grasped the gravity of the event, which can cost thousands of youngsters their academic futures.
Amna Mazhar
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2013.
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